Harvard's Chapple, Smith Earn Top Ivy League Honors

Seitu Smith III returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, becoming the 10th Harvard player in school history with a return of 90-plus yards during a 42-3 win over Bucknell at Harvard Stadium on Oct. 15, 2011 (Gil Talbot)

PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard junior quarterback Colton Chapple (Alpharetta, Ga.) has been named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for the second time while Seitu Smith III (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) has been named the league's Rookie of the Week and co-Special Teams Player of the Week.

Senior captain Alex Gedeon (Hudson, Ohio) was named to the Honor Roll.

Chapple recorded two historical notables during just 35 minutes of action in a 42-3 win against Bucknell at The Stadium. Chapple became the first Harvard player to throw for at least four touchdowns in consecutive games (four at Cornell and five vs. Bucknell). He also became just the second Harvard QB to throw five TDs in a single game, matching Carroll Lowenstein '52 ('54), who did so against Davidson in 1953. A total of 544 games had passed since that performance.

In addition to throwing five TDs against Bucknell, Colton Chapple was also the game's leading rusher with 96 yards gained and 71 net yards against a Bucknell team that entered play allowing just 60 yards per game.

Through just four games, Chapple has a league-high 12 touchdown passes and a league-low 2 interceptions, one of which came off a dropped, deflected pass. He is the nation's second-leading passer in efficiency ratings and tops in the Ivy League by more than 20 points.

Smith became first Harvard freshman to return a kickoff for a touchdown when he returned a 91-yarder in the third quarter following Bucknell's only points of the day. He is the 10th Harvard player to return a kickoff 90-plus yards for a touchdown. He had 125 all-purpose yards in the game on just three touches.

Smith is currently ranked second nationally in kickoff return average at better than 33 yards per touch.

In defeating Cornell 41-31 and Bucknell 42-3, Harvard scored 40 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since 2005 when the Crimson won vs. Dartmouth (42-14) and at Columbia (55-7) in weeks 7 and 8.

Gedeon meanwhile, paced a suffocating Harvard defense that allowed just 140 yards to Bucknell including minus-5 yards rushing. The senior captain had 11 tackles, one sack, 2.5 tackles for a loss and recovered a fumble. Harvard's next-leading tackler in the game had just four in a balanced effort.

Harvard returns home to The Stadium this weekend with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Princeton.